Abstract
Purpose :
To describe the clinical presentation of uveal melanoma in a minority population where tumor characteristics may differ from Caucasian patients.
Methods :
Patients who self-identified as being of African descent (AD) and were treated from 1984-2022 with complete demographic, clinical and imaging data were included. Statistical analysis was obtained using GraphPad Prism v.10.
Results :
Fifteen patients from a database of 1,864 were included. None had history of cancer other than UM. Median age at the time of surgery was 62.3 ± 10.5. Nine were men. Tumor staging was: T1a (2), T2a (6), T3a (5), T3b (1), and T4a (1). Median apical thickness (AT) and largest basal diameter (LBD) at baseline and last follow up were 5.8 mm ± 2.8 (AT) and 13.4 mm ± 3.7 (LBD), and 3.4 ± 2.7 (AT) and 9.8 mm ± 4.6 (LBD), respectively. One patient had ocular melanocytosis in the affected eye, and one patient had multiple congenital hypertrophy of retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE) lesions in the contralateral eye. One patient underwent primary enucleation, whereas the rest were treated with plaque brachytherapy (PBT). Four of fifteen developed local recurrence. Ultimately, 6 (42.9%) eyes required enucleation, two due to blind painful eye, and three due to recurrent disease. The median follow up was 40 ± 30.3 months (range 13 to 102) and all were alive without metastatic disease at last recorded visit.
Conclusions :
Uveal melanoma in patients of African descent demonstrated comparatively higher rates of recurrent growth following initial treatment. This may be due to increased fundus pigmentation which may obscure the delineation of tumor margins before and after brachytherapy. Further investigation is necessary to better understand why disease outcomes might vary specifically within this patient demographic.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.